Background - i am 22, female, live in Aus, sri lankan heritage. I had mild-moderate acne since i was 14, but it was manageable. Maybe 2-3 big ones a month plus small minor ones all the time, very oily skin. Then between 19 and 21, it disappearaed whilst i was on birth control. I dont know what happened but BC doesnt work anymore, and my skin has gotten crap. So at 22, and working full time i really struggle. Every day i wake up with new whiteheads, i have black pigmentation scars on my medium brown skins and it just looks horrible and infected all over. It hurts, and i cant say i go more than 2 minutes without thinking about my acne. I have to wear makeup most days but it doesnt hide the 3D ness of my zits.

Anyway, finally i had enough. I went to the doctor, got antibiotics. It cleared after a week. no more whiteheads just scars. I had a few small bumps which went away quickly. Knowing i cant live on antiobiotics forever, 2 weeks later I got differin 0.1%. 0.3% is not available here in Aus i think. I tried it for a month, and during that time, ,y face got about 10% better. I was feeling good! I was even able to go out one weekend with makeup on and see friends etc..loving life!.

Then accutane started. Im on 20mg as im tiny. Within a week, it cleared. THIS WAS FANTASTIC. I was so happy and my family were saying its working. THen week 2 started. I suppose i got happy too fast because MY FACE IS A MESS! Just as my holiday to finland starts too sigh..i really wnated to take nice holiday pics for once.

I have a big cyst in the middle of my eyebrows, 3 on each cheek, one of which is a whitehead and i popped. More are coming up from below the skin as i can feel them. These pimples and coming up pimples are really red and large, unlike anything i have had before. I cant pop them which is frustrating! Plus now i have the dark scars, red pimples, whiteheads, and brown skin..my face is a fucking rainbow!

I might bump up my dosage on accutane to 40mg when i get to week 3. Get this bitch over with.

hey , accutane works... i used it some 2 years back.. n its sooooooo drying... pls donot increase the dose.... it has loads of side-effects n its long term... leave them alone... m suffering since i was 14.. m 24 now... leave them alone... be gentle..... with accutane u mite get rid of pimples for a while its surely gonna com bac wit its side effects... so dont....

Its been just over 2 weeks now. If I put my hands on my face, it feels 90% smooth! Sure, there are a few actives around, but they aren't huge and infected like before, though the 3D-ness is not lost. The pigmented scars from old zits are slowly going pink, which looks a bit odd on my brown skin. I'm not sure what's up with that. I am getting quite a bit of sunlight and not wearing suncscreen, just makeup as I'm on holiday but I wear a hat and scarf.

One thing really great - my pores are shrinking! Previously when I'd put on makeup, i'd see little holes in my face in the areas I used to get pimples and the parts of my cheeks close to my nose. Now its pretty smooth. I also wore makeup all day in the hot Russian sun, and I didn't feel sweaty or oily at all! I used to wonder how girls could wear makeup at music festivals etc, when I'd go super oily after 2 hours in an airconditioned office! I also wear a bit of powder these days..not sure if that is what has caused the change.

My nose has a stack of small, tinnnny bumps. I'm not sure what they are, they arent quite pimples, more like dry flaky skin?

The cysts I had, some of them are drying up and the bump is receding. The one between my forehead that i stupidly popped..well that one is still there, going down but its like a big circle with a hole in it, its pink and gets pus that needs to be drained everyday. Hmm. I think i learned my lesson with cysts - DONT POP!

Lips are a bit dry, not too bad. Eyes aren't as dry as a few days ago and the thirtiness in my mouth has subsided. All up, good progress for only 2 weeks. If I were at home, i think i could actually go out! I've been taking holiday snaps and though its nothing really close up (skin is still to bad for that) I am able to be confident talking to ppl and posing.

Wait - the above is for week 3. Losing count haha. Also, i upped my dose to 40 mg a day, differin every 2/3 nights. I take 20mg of accutane with breakfast, and 20mg before bed, but after dinner. Face care routine:

Morning:

Clinique anti-blemish soap

Clinique anti-blemish toner

Maybelline Fit Me foundation, concealer and powder

Afternoon:

Same clinique products as morning

St Ives invigorating facial scrub

Night:

Clinique anti-blemish soap

Turmeric powder mixed with water applied to face till morning (everytime i get a few whoppers)

It has only been a few days since my last post, but I'm so excited I want to b(log) it!

I woke up and wow! I have no noticeable pimples! The cyst between my brows is now a small, smooth pink bump. The ones on my cheeks have also gone down dramatically, so when I run my hands over my face it feels basically smooth! Okay, so I kind of cheated. They were healing and turned into this hard lumpy scab thing and it was ruining the effect of my makeup so i ripped it off. It was dead skin that was gonna come off anyway, i applied vaseline on it to keep the wound moist and its basically gone.

On the other hand, I have gotten 5 tiny hormonal pimples on my chin. But its nothing like what I would usually get and there is no gross puss involved!

3 weeks on accutane and these kind of results! I'm a fan!

The downsides, I am getting really fat! I am eating less than I usually do on holiday, walking a lot...and piling the weight on my 5 feet tiny frame. Mostly its stored in my thighs and belly. Although, it could be premenstrual as my period is due soon (might be the case, i always get fat before my period and those chin zits).

Also, my family says I am acting very aggressive. I personally don't see it or understand what they are talking about, which is the scary part. I get angry fast. I'll work on stopping this i guess and let u know how it goes.

Accutane should slow down your oil production within 4 weeks of starting.

I would be wary of using Differin while on Accutane, as Accutane is already irritates/dries your skin and you don't want to exacerbate things. However, once you've finished Accutane, it will be very important to initiate a daily maintenance therapy to retain the improvement produced by Accutane, ideally a topical retinoid such as Differin.

Hey, fellow Aussie here. Depending on what scrub you're using you might need to stop using it. Your skin could become too sensitive to have a scrub used on it. Obviously if you feel comfortable using it then feel free to, just be gentle when rubbing it in. I am three months post my Oratane (Accutane) course, so feel free to ask any questions you might have.

I stopped using differin, following Biggs' advice. I am glad he warned me, because my skin has gotten pretty dry! Its flaking around the lips and a bit swollen, making them look bigger than angelina jolie's pout!

@Jamie O, I really love my scrub! But i get what you are saying about sensitive skin - how can i tell if my skin is 'too sensitive' for the scrub? I feel like my face is just hardy and tough like rubber! Its not going to break - is it?

Also can I ask, when did you skin (not lips) start flaking off? The old zits dry up and then flake off. But the usual skin that has not had actives on it for awhile...its not flaking or changing at all. Does this mean i need to up my dosage? Im not due at the derm for another few weeks.

oh yes, and update on my progress.

So i actually found my moods have improved dramatically. The aggressiveness has gone away and my moods are back to normal. In fact, I feel so happy, i would not be very embarassed (maybe a little ) to go out without makeup now. Legs are super dry. Lip balm is applied ever hour, using vaseline because i dnt want to fork out for expensive lip balm.

Oh yeah, and i always felt sad that my neglect of my lips during my teenhood resulted in rough lips. Well now that the old skin has shedded i have a shot at beautiful smooth lips again! no wrinkles yay

@Jamie O, I really love my scrub! But i get what you are saying about sensitive skin - how can i tell if my skin is 'too sensitive' for the scrub? I feel like my face is just hardy and tough like rubber! Its not going to break - is it?

Also can I ask, when did you skin (not lips) start flaking off? The old zits dry up and then flake off. But the usual skin that has not had actives on it for awhile...its not flaking or changing at all. Does this mean i need to up my dosage? Im not due at the derm for another few weeks.

UnshakenAves, I guess a reference point might be if your skin gets redder after using it. After shaving my face I found that my skin could get redder and gain little acne like bumps on my face and neck, unfortunately not shaving obviously wasn't an option. Most websites tell Accutane users just to use a general moisturiser and cleanser, ie not the brands that are used to prevent/treat acne, because their skin will probably be too sensitive. So I guess your own judgement will be the best guide, since it is your choose to use it.

As for the flaking skin, I personally did not experience it too much. I mainly experienced flaking skin on any large cystic acne, once they had become inactive, or a little bit when I had trouble with eczema (due to having hayfever, do not normally have it).

I also noticed that you said the skin on your legs are dry. I guess this will be a dumb question, but are you using a body moisturiser currently? I found that I needed to use one while on Accutane and still do, unfortunately I didn't use it as quite as often as I should have.

@Jamie O, I really love my scrub! But i get what you are saying about sensitive skin - how can i tell if my skin is 'too sensitive' for the scrub? I feel like my face is just hardy and tough like rubber! Its not going to break - is it?

Also can I ask, when did you skin (not lips) start flaking off? The old zits dry up and then flake off. But the usual skin that has not had actives on it for awhile...its not flaking or changing at all. Does this mean i need to up my dosage? Im not due at the derm for another few weeks.

UnshakenAves, I guess a reference point might be if your skin gets redder after using it. After shaving my face I found that my skin could get redder and gain little acne like bumps on my face and neck, unfortunately not shaving obviously wasn't an option. Most websites tell Accutane users just to use a general moisturiser and cleanser, ie not the brands that are used to prevent/treat acne, because their skin will probably be too sensitive. So I guess your own judgement will be the best guide, since it is your choose to use it.

As for the flaking skin, I personally did not experience it too much. I mainly experienced flaking skin on any large cystic acne, once they had become inactive, or a little bit when I had trouble with eczema (due to having hayfever, do not normally have it).

I also noticed that you said the skin on your legs are dry. I guess this will be a dumb question, but are you using a body moisturiser currently? I found that I needed to use one while on Accutane and still do, unfortunately I didn't use it as quite as often as I should have.

Hopefully something that I have said has helped

Thanks Jamie. Yeah I was pretty dumb and didn't use cream. Now i load it on lol. Problem solved.

Yeah its defs coming back. Now i have 7 zits on my face. THey are along my cheeks and jawline. Period is already here (came yesterday). What the hell. I think the effectiveness is wearing out. Time to visit the derm.

Its been about a month since i last posted. Sorry I havent been updating, but take it as a good sign! I havent been as disciplined with my skin care. Eg: i forget to wash my face before bed sometimes now, or i go a few days withut accutane pills.

The Good:

- been pimple free for the last month

- drunk a few times ..ok got waste...a fwe times..when i was out and forgot i was on accutane - nothing major happened to me, just took a bit longer than usual to recover the next day

The Bad:

- skin has aged considerably

- dry everywhere !moisturising daily

- people say i look 26 now, even tho im 22. I dont know what it is, but the accutane has made me look more tired all the time

- still lethargic sometimes

The Ugly:

- weird parts of my body will have skin falling off and scabs forming,its not too bad tho and certainly better than acne

- Today i was reminded to post, because i felt a pimple under my skin forming

You could just appear older because a mixture of your skin thinning out and fatigue, both can have an affect on your appearance and both will hopefully go quickly after the treatment (or maybe during if you're lucky).